Discover how Volution Group PLC continues to drive the future of indoor ventilation – innovatively and sustainably
Serving both residential and commercial markets, Volution Group PLC (Volution) has firmly established it-self as a world leading provider of ventilation systems. With presence across the UK, Europe, and Australasia, the Group offers a comprehensive brand portfolio, providing everything from simple extractor fans for residential use to advanced, low-carbon commercial ventilation systems with heat recovery, as well as sophisticated commercial technologies including air handling units, fan coils, and hybrid systems. At the heart of this offering is a clear purpose: to provide healthy indoor air, sustainably.
When Manufacturing Today last spoke with Volution in early 2025, the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Ronnie George, shared insight into the company’s broad scope of expertise, dynamic growth trajectory, and acquisitive advancements. Since that conversation, Volution has continued to expand and thrive, further strengthening its position across the residential and commercial markets whilst upholding its incredible three to five percent organic growth rate. Now, with 2026 marking 12 years since Volution became a listed company, Ronnie rejoins us to provide an update on the organization’s progression and recent developments.
“Over the last six months, we’ve taken on a new facility in Dudley, which has provided us with an addition-al 35,000 square feet of manufacturing and distribution capability,” he begins. “With that, we moved our residential ventilation into a new building that was fully equipped with new flow lines to increase our efficiency and support our growth in heat recovery ventilation for decarbonized homes. Now, we’re focusing on growing our commercial ventilation manufacturing capability and upgrading the original building to support our commercial revenue growth, particularly through our Breathing Builds brand where we manufacture natural and hybrid ventilation for the education section. We’ve brought some new hybrid ventilation products to market and we’re continuing to invest further to expand that product portfolio into the future.
“What’s helpful in driving these ambitions is that Marianne Williams joined us as our UK Operations Director around five months ago, and she’s been spearheading our operational excellence program. Alongside that, I’m delighted to share that we hired Graham Sanders as our UK Managing Director. Initially, he will be spearheading the commercial function through to the end of this financial year and will then be taking over responsibility for our UK income statement,” Ronnie enthuses. “For me, it’s all about futureproofing the management of Volution and helping us to target three to five percent organic growth in the UK market each year.”
Growth
Volution’s long-term focus on steady, sustainable growth is closely tied to the fundamentals of the markets in which it operates. Earlier this year, the Group was proud to be recognized on TIME magazine’s list of the World’s Best Companies for Sustainable Growth 2026 – an achievement that’s representative of how Volution’s strong structural drivers, consistent innovation, and disciplined investment strategy helps it to reliably deliver on its growth targets year upon year.
“Volution operates within a market that is underpinned by regulation – an environment that understands the importance of ventilating properly. Volution is a hugely innovative company. We bring lots of new products to market every year and we’re extremely passionate about providing excellent customer service and great quality. Our continued investments into our facilities, people, and equipment underpin that,” Ronnie explains.
“Over the last 12 years since we listed Volution, we’ve delivered just over 12 percent growth in compound earnings, made up of a three to five percent organic component, alongside acquisitive growth. In my time as CEO (since 2012), we’ve completed 29 acquisitions averaging around two per year, and we can continue to provide that growth story to our shareholders into the future.”
As Volution embarks further along its organic growth journey, it is doing so with a particular focus on its commercial markets. A key area of opportunity for the Group lies in the education sector, where evolving building standards and a growing emphasis on student wellbeing are driving a greater demand for effective ventilation solutions. Building upon its past success within the sector, Volution continues to create new products to help dominate innovation in this space.
“The standards for ventilation in schools are very stringent, and our leading provision of products and solutions have been associated with exciting, high-profile new school projects over the last ten to 15 years. The government recently announced a Department for Education school buildings program for the long-term future, and we feel that this is a rich, fertile opportunity for us,” Ronnie elaborates. “The idea of natural, hybrid ventilation comes from the idea that you don’t have the same structural need for heat recovery in a classroom with 20 to 30 students that you do in other environments. We call it ‘heat recycling’: in the winter months, we bring in fresh air from outside and mix it with the warm air inside to reduce CO2 levels in the classroom and create a fresher environment.”
As Ronnie emphasized in our previous interview, sustainability remains a central pillar of Volution’s long-term strategy – one that shapes every facet of the organization. The company champions a unique approach to sustainability: rather than relying on one sweeping initiative, it focuses on embedding environmentally responsible practices into its day-to-day operations, ensuring consistent progress towards reducing its overall impact.
“We encourage our management teams to help reduce our carbon emissions,” Ronnie affirms. “We’re moving our production facilities to more renewable energy sources where we can but are also investing in the facilities themselves. At our factories in Bosnia and Germany, for example, we’ve invested in heat pumps and photovoltaic panels on the rooftops to allow us to generate our own electricity. For us, it’s all about making ongoing incremental developments everywhere throughout the business.”
As Volution looks ahead to the future, its trajectory remains defined by a clear balance of innovation, disciplined growth, and environmental responsibility. With ongoing investment in its people, products and facilities, the Group is well-positioned to build on its strong track record and continue to drive long-term value, both for its stakeholders and for the environments in which its solutions are used every day.
“We’re confident that we can continue to grow organically. We’ve got huge geographic diversity across our three core regions and, while the UK is a little more challenging for us at the moment in terms of the construction outlook, we believe that we can grow share across each of our respective vertical markets. Our recent acquisition of AC Industries in Australia is going to deliver returns in the second half of the year, so we’re confident about the performance of the group, not just for the rest of this year, but for the longer term,” Ronnie reveals, optimistic for the years ahead.
“Volution’s ambition for the future is to continue to grow at around the same output as we’ve delivered over the last 12 years since we listed,” he says, concluding our conversation. “It’s a track record that we’re really proud of. When I first became CEO, the group was producing sub £100 million in revenue, and now, with the recent acquisition of AC Industries, we’re on a run rate to be circa £1.5 billion. We have strong regional leadership and over 2400 employees across the group who are standing behind providing healthy air sustainably every day, and we’re on a journey. With good momentum, we expect to continue to grow, keeping innovation at the absolute heart of everything that we do.”
